Creed 2

Plot

Adonis Creed has now become a minor celebrity due to his heritage, as well as his clear talent in the ring.

Rocky, now cancer free is still his trainer – that is until Ivan Drago – now living in

Direction/Cinematography

Directed by Steven Caple Jr, he has some impressive moments during the action sequences, as well as during Adonis’ post fight growth.

As good as it was, I did miss Ryan Coogler’s direction, who served as an Executive Producer.

Cast/Characters

Michael B Jordan returns as Adonis, and is really starting to make the role his own. His physical presence is impressive once again, and it feels as if he has taken it up one or two notches.

This is (to date) Sylvester Stallone’s final appearance as Rocky Balboa. He is the “Unc” to Adonis, and these last two films are his most impressive in front of the camera.

Dolph Lundgren returns as Ivan Drago, now dejected by his home country of Russia, he still longs for victory against the man who ruined his reputation… Rocky… and his protege.

Florian Munteanu plays Victor Drago, Ivan’s son who is also a boxer. His 6’4 frame is as wide as it is tall with his muscles on top of his muscles – and is Adonis’ rival throughout the film.

Tessa Thompson returns as Bianca, who throughout the film is engaged to Adonis, and gives birth to his daughter. She is as strong a female ‘lead’ as Talia Shire was as Adrian.

Wood Harris plays Duke Jr, the son of Duke from the Rocky saga, and who takes over as trainer for Adonis during the film.

Phylicia Rashad returns as Mary Ann, Adonis’ mother – who shares sweet moments with both her son and future daughter in law – when it comes to both the pregnancy and Adonis’ fight with Victor.

There are some surprise cameo’s from Milo Ventimiglia (as Robert Balboa – his first appearance since Rocky Balboa), and Brigitte Nielsen – reprising her role from Rocky 4. She does not share any screen time with her real life ex Stallone however.

Breakdown

Unlike the Rocky saga before it, this takes place some time after Creeds fight with Ricky – and he is on his way to becoming World Heavyweight. It does take ‘some’ creative ideas away from Rocky, such as Creed having some level of wealth, and moving into a nicer house (not as fancy as Rocky and Adrian’s however), and the relationship growth of Adonis and Bianca sees them engaged and expecting a child together. There is a poignant scene between him and his “Unc” who tries to be the ‘father’ by giving him relationship and marriage advice – as best Rocky can.

It is the emergence of Ivan Drago, along with his son Victor, who have returned to the United States. The elder Drago lost all his respect from his native Russia following his loss to Rocky all the way back in RV, which led to his divorce from wife (??), so he and Jr fled to Ukraine (awkward to see the conflict in these countries in a 2026 timeline). Now Snr wants his son to fight the son of the man he killed in the ring!

This leads those around Adonis to question why the fight should occur, especially mum Mary Anne, as well as Rocky himself, who can’t be there for the fight and almost abandons him beforehand! This leads Creed to ask the son of his father’s trainer Duke Jr to train him instead. I liked that they kept it ‘all in the family’ in this series of films.

As he is in a similar, if not harder position to Apollo at the time of the fight with a new child, who seems to have similar health problems like mum (deafness). He has an adorable moment when he has his daughter Amara by himself and she won’t stop crying. The panic in his voice and actions make me remember those early days of being a new parent. Jordan shows here his skills in front of the camera, that led to his Oscar winning turn in Sinners.

The first bout between Creed and the towering Victor is brutal in its choreography, which ends with Victor disqualified for a final punch after the bell. Adonis takes much of the second act healing from the fight, not just physically, but emotionally – having almost lost everything – including those he loves. There is a lovely heart to heart between Bianca and Rocky.

The third act, in which a reunited Creed and Rocky as his trainer, head to Russia for the rematch (where Neilsen’s Ludmilla returns to watch her sons match) – is as equally if not more brutal than their first match, and it gets the “Hollywood” ending (but so did Rocky V). There is quite a good amount of ‘father/son’ moments here, with Drago Sr being the one to ‘throw in the towel’ on the fight in order to save his son from more pain, Adonis visiting his fathers grave with his family, and Rocky reconnecting with Robert (with Milo V returning for the first time since Rocky Balboa). The emotional ending here works… well for me…

Overall

A solid sequel in the Creed saga, which so far is as equally as impressive as the Rocky saga. The return of legacy characters such as Ivan Drago, his (ex) wife, and Robert were a nice touch.

Stallone has never been better as Rocky (it is a shame he sat #3 out, but we can only hope he’ll be back for #4 if it happens – but considering Jordan’s recent Oscar win, I can’t see why they wouldn’t try to get him back before he ages out).

A strong recommend, with some great moments of growth for the character of Adonis.

4/5

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